The news has been filled with stories from alleged victims of sexual harassment, unlawful touching, and rape by intoxication, among other similar sexual related incidents. The #MeToo Movement has made social media, such as Facebook and Twitter, a comfortable forum for victims to come forward and speak out against sexual assault and harassment. In many of these cases, victims are choosing to go online as part of a demonstration in support of survivors and to end sexual violence as opposed to going to police to file a report. This movement encourages people to share their own experiences to raise awareness about the extent of sexual harassment. It gained national attention after there were numerous sexual related accusations against movie producer Harvey Weinstein. Back in October 2017, the Los Angeles Police Department launched a criminal investigation after an Italian model-actress who claimed he raped her at a hotel in 2013. She became the sixth woman to accuse him or rape or forcible sex acts. Sexual harassment includes coercion, such as connecting someone’s working condition to sexual cooperation. Additionally, sexual harassment also includes unwanted sexual behavior, such as kissing, touching, hugging or constant verbal pressure to go out on a date. The United States Supreme Court has said that unwanted behavior has to be severe enough to cause an abusive working condition. However, some of the most common forms of sexual harassment are not through improper touching. They frequently include degrading or crude remarks about the opposite sex. Many of these sexual harassment claims will be handled in civil court. This means attorneys will be retained to pursue a civil lawsuit for sexual harassment in the workplace on a variety of different levels. These type of sexual harassment claims don’t always mean criminal charges will be filed.

If you have been accused of sexual assault or charged with a sexual related crime, you should consult with a Los Angeles sex crime lawyer at Eisner Gorin LLP. Our attorneys will be able to properly respond to these allegations and aggressively defend you. If contacted by a police detective, politely decline to answer any questions without first consulting with a lawyer. You need to keep your emotions in check. Stay clam. Don’t approach the accuser and stop all communication and stay away from them. This includes contacting them through social media, such as Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. It’s important to remember that anything you say or write to them at this point will be used against you in a court of law. Some of the most common criminal charges from the #MeToo movement include:

Indecent Exposure

Under California Penal Code Section 314, it’s a crime to willfully exposing one’s genital’s to another person when the exposure is made with the intent of sexual gratification or to offend the other individual. By law, “willfully” means on purpose. One of the elements of the crime for the prosecutor to prove includes showing that the defendant exposed themselves and acted in a lewd manner by intentionally directing attention to their naked genitals with the intent of personal sexual arousal.

Sexual Battery

Under California Penal Code Section 243.4, it’s a crime to touch the intimate part of another person for the purpose of sexual gratification, arousal, or abuse. This includes their genital area, buttocks, or female breast. Sexual battery is also commonly known as sexual assault or unlawful touching. Sexual battery charges can be filed as a misdemeanor or felony sex crime. A common example of misdemeanor sexual battery charges related to the #MeToo movement includes a situation where the defendant intentionally fondles a female’s breast without their consent or touched their buttocks without permission. Contact our Los Angeles criminal defense law firm for more information.

Rape

California Penal Code Section 261 defines rape as non-consensual sexual intercourse by means of force, threats, fraud, or with a victim who is unconscious or incapable of giving consent. Rape charges can be filed even when there is no physical force. A Los Angeles County prosecutor can pursue rape criminal charges in a situation where the victim is intoxicated or physically or mentally disabled to provide lawful consent. Additionally, a rape case can be filed if the act was achieved not only through force or violence, but also through duress, menace, fear of bodily harm, fear of retaliation, or fraud.

Rape by Intoxication

California Penal Code Section 261(a)(3). It’s a common myth that rape is a crime that just involves forcing yourself upon a person without their consent. Rape criminal charges don’t always have to involve the use of force, but can involve a lack of valid consent from the victim due to fraud or incapacity A specific set of circumstances that can lead to a rape charges is when a victim was prevented from resisting due to any intoxicating or anesthetic substance. Under this law, it’s required the defendant knew or should have known of the victims intoxicated state at the time of the sexual encounter. “Prevented from resisting” means that as a result of intoxication, the victim lacked the capacity to give valid sexual consent based on a reasonable and informed use of judgment. In basic terms, any case that involves the alleged rape of an intoxicated woman requires a legal determination of whether her intoxicated state prevented her from exercising reasonable judgment, along with all the other facts and circumstances, in order to determine whether her mental impairment was at a level that it deprived her of the ability to exercise reasonable judgment. Rape under California Penal Code Section 261 is a serious felony crime that leads to 3 to 8 years in a California state prison. Furthermore, a conviction for this type of sexual offense will typically require the defendant to register as a sex offender in California pursuant to Penal Code Section 290. Call a Los Angeles criminal defense lawyer at our office more detailed information.

Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Special Task Force

Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie Lacey issued a statement to deal with the high number of recent sexual harassment and assault allegations against high-profile names in Hollywood. She announced her office would be forming a special task force to address these issues. This task force was specifically created in response to the widespread allegations of sexual abuse in the entertainment industry. They include specially trained deputy district attorneys who will review all the sexual related allegations for potential criminal prosecution. The task force includes veteran sex crimes prosecutors who will work closely together to thoroughly examine all cases to determine if they meet both the legal and factual standards for filing a criminal case.

When this task force reviews these accusations, they will not be reviewing these cases under the civil context of sexual harassment, rather they are seeking to deal with the accusations under the context of whether a sexual related crime was committed. This will typically require some type of unlawful touching, force, or threat. If the Los Angeles County District Attorneys Office believes that someone committed any type of sex crime offense, they will not hesitate to prosecute them under a specific California Penal Code Section violation. Many of the #MeToo Movement allegations are from incidents that occurred many years ago. Therefore, the Statute of Limitations might prevent some criminal cases from being filed.

Contact a Los Angeles Criminal Defense Lawyer

If you are currently under investigation for sexual harassment or any type of criminal sex offense related to the workplace, you need to immediately consult with a Los Angeles criminal defense lawyer at Eisner Gorin LLP. As stated above, if contacted by a police detective, politely decline to answer any questions without first consulting with an attorney. Anything you say at this point will be used against you. Our criminal attorneys will closely examine all the details in order to start building an effective defense strategy. We offer a free immediate response. Call our law firm at 877-781-1570.

Some recent crimes in Los Angeles have shown how important it is to have a lawyer who understands the courts, the prosecutors and jury trials. People from all walks of life can be arrested for, charged with or investigated for serious crimes, and without top notch legal representation it can create lifelong problems.
In El Monte, the El Monte Police Department is looking for a man who is accused of raping a college student in the back of a convenience store. Authorities said a female student was working as a cashier at the store when a man blocked the exit as she prepared to close. He dragged the woman to the back of the store and raped her according to police news reports. Police believe the perpetrator is an 18-year-old who is a gang member with a tattoo on his right arm of his gang. They are seeking assistance from the community in looking for the alleged guilty party.
In another sex crime involving a college student, a 26-yea- old man was arrested on suspicion of attempted kidnapping and rape at Grossmont College in El Cajon, near San Diego. The San Diego Sheriff's Department arrested Anthony Washington for attempting to attack a female student at 11 AM, he was booked in county jail. The attacker held a knife to the victim's throat according to reports as she got into her car. Another student saw the attacked and honked his horn causing the attacker to flee the scene. The suspect was arrested after a thorough search of the campus. He confessed he was going to rape the student during interrogation.
In a surprising case of a judge committing a crime, Hon. Craig Richman allegedly committed battery for pushing and injuring a woman who was walking her dogs. The event allegedly occurred on July 18 when the judge saw a woman place a plastic bag of animal waste on the curb next to the street by his house. He is accused of pushing the woman from behind and knocking her to the ground causing the woman to strike her face on the sidewalk. She suffered cuts and scrapes to her face and shoulder. The judge then allegedly left the scene. Richman, who is also a former prosecutor, was charged with a misdemeanor count of battery. The judge at first accused the woman of fabricating the entire story, but also claims that she was both the aggressor and stalked him when he tried to leave, which would at least ad some validity to her story.

Local law enforcement agents have released statements to the public that they will be actively seeking to arrest people who are driving under the influence of alcohol this New Year’s. While people all around the world like to ring in the New Year with parties that include a fair amount of alcohol consumption, drinking and driving is still very much a danger to other people on the road as well as a real crime that can land you in jail.
According to statistical information released by the Los Angeles Police Department, nearly 15,000 people were arrested last year on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol. Nearly 2,500 crashes last year were alcohol-related and 17 people died as a result of drinking and driving. Those numbers do not even include arrests or incidents handled by the California Highway Patrol, which also does a fair amount of work in handling drivers impaired by alcohol. Officials with the Los Angeles Police Department have stated that they will have several sobriety checkpoints running on New Year’s Eve and in the early hours of New Year’s Day as well as extra officers on patrol in an effort to catch anyone suspected of driving under the influence of alcohol that night. Additionally, officers will also be combing local bars and restaurants on watch for bartenders who are over-serving alcoholic beverages as well as people leaving public places who are in no condition to be driving home.
Outside of efforts by local law enforcement agencies, local buses and train services will be free from 9 o’clock on December 31st through 2 o’clock the next morning. Popular towing service AAA will also be offering free car towing between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m. that same night. The tow must be to your own home and is free within a seven-mile radius.
While it is undoubtedly safer to have extra law enforcement agents patrolling the streets in an effort to keep drunk drivers off the road, some of the tactics mentioned above can appear to conflict with the spirit of “innocent until proven guilty” that is said to be the foundation of our legal system. Local police are working on the assumption that people will be breaking the law on New Year’s Eve, and perhaps rightly so. That said they still have very strict rules that they have to follow in terms of how they set up sobriety checkpoints and how and when they can stop a person who they suspect may be breaking the law. If you are arrested on suspicion of DUI, you need an experienced attorney to help you with your case right away. An experienced criminal defense attorney can tell you whether or not you were unlawfully stopped by police, which can make a huge difference in winning your criminal case.

For the most part, the news lately has been about how serious crimes are getting swept under the rug or not punished as harshly as some people would like. A recent case highlights just how over the top some judges and juries are when prosecuting people. With Three Strikes penalties in California, it is vital to keep track of how courts are punishing people for seemingly small crimes. In fact, with the ultimate penalty being decades in prison, having a Los Angeles Three Strikes Crime Attorney working for you is absolutely necessary. A case in Syracuse, NY saw a young man go to juvenile detention for the next two to six years for stealing 7 cents. You read that correctly, he stole a total of 7 cents, not enough to buy anything, and a judge sentenced him to years in correctional facilities. He will also spend the rest of his life with a felony on his record. A judge rejected the defense lawyer's request to treat the young man as a minor, meaning his felony conviction will follow him permanently according to the local Syracuse newspaper. In fact, the judge went so far as to say the boy would have been treated as a minor if the defense attorney had told him to plead guilty (which his accomplice did). This highlights why it is so important to have a qualified Three Strikes Crime Attorney defending you whenever you are facing serious felony charges.

According to witnesses, the two young men were found guilty of robbery in July after attacking a 73 year old man, running up behind the victim, knocking him to the ground and kicking him until his glasses broke. The victim handed the two youths 7 cents. While the actions of the two young men are terrible, one has to ask if they truly warrant years in prison and a lifetime of being considered a felon. The judge seems to have overstepped his bounds, leaving the young man permanently marked by his crime. With a skilled Los Angeles Three Strikes Crime Attorney the young man may have been able to avoid the penalty.

If you or someone you know needs a Three Strikes Crime Lawyer then contact Kestenbaum Eisner & Gorin, LLP. With over 50 years of combined experience, and a long track record of success, our attorneys can provide the kind of defense necessary to the great results. Call us today at 877-781-1570.

Whenever a Los Angeles White Collar Crime Lawyer represents someone charged by the state or federal government, he has to do battle in court with some of the best attorneys in California. While drug crimes, sex crimes and violent crimes can involve people in the middle class or the poor, white collar crime always involves a high-level executive, government official or entrepreneur. In a recent article in the LA Weekly, a man known as the "Bernie Madoff of Beverly Hills" was highlighted as a high profile white collar criminal in need of some serious legal representation. He was reportedly forced into bankruptcy three years ago and left a trail of more than $1 billion in potential claims. Like many white collar criminals, he built a relationship with a tight knit community, in this case the Persian Jewish community in Los Angeles.

Currently, Ezri Namvar is living under house arrest in Brentwood in an $8 million mansion. He is awaiting his sentence for wire fraud, which is the typical type of charge that goes along with any white collar crime. In May of 2011, Namvar was convicted of four federal wire fraud charges for taking $21 million from people into his financial corporation, none of which has been paid back. According to the media and police, 400 people have lost their retirement savings, college funds, bar mitzvah money and more. This crime has torn apart the community which trusted this man, businesses, creditors and much more. What his Defense Attorney and his business allies are trying to argue, is whether or not he was committing fraud or just doing business poorly at a risky time. People accused of white collar crimes often claim that the poor economy was the culprit, not their business practices.

In this instance, the man was convicted of the crime and will have to spend years in federal prison. If you are accused of, charged with or arrested for a white collar crime, contact Kestenbaum Eisner & Gorin. We can provide the kind of legal representation necessary to stay out of prison and free from fines. Their track record over the years has been superb, and they are ranked "Top Notch" by one of the most prominent lawyer ranking sites in the country.

A major scam has occurred in the city, raising eye brows amongst Los Angeles White Collar Attorneys from Torrance to Tujunga. White collar crime is a highly complicated area of the law, and lawyers on both sides of any criminal trial need to know accounting, finance, wire fraud and more.

In Los Angeles Federal Court, a scammer was sentenced for a serious fraud issue. A man tricked people into investing in a bogus start-up Internet company (many different companies in fact) and evaded federal income taxes. Chase Norwood, who was also known as Thomas Gray, was convicted back in 2009 on 15 counts of federal mail fraud and tax evasion. Prosecutors said they will ask the judge to sentence the man to 60 months in federal prison. The 52 year old man solicited people to invest in his purported Internet start up companies, including one that was called Cal Broadband. He tricked investors into believing that the company had been in business for years and was internationally recognized in the wireless high speed Internet industry. The company was nothing more than a name however. He also lied to investors by telling them he had many licensing agreements and business affiliations with large technology companies, but none of that was true either. The Los Angeles Daily News reported that he used investors' funds to support a lavish lifestyle which included residences in some of the top hotels in Los Angeles and Beverly Hills. White Collar Attorneys will also note that his money went towards rent for his mother's condo and to hire several unlicensed brokers and telemarketers to pick out and identify potential investors in his phone company.

Tales such as these seem to come along far too often these days, and the danger of heading to jail for five years or more is very real. This man was dealing with federal prosecutors who are some of the best lawyers in the country, and can only really be matched with highly skilled White Collar Attorneys who have an insider's perspective.

If you need assistance with a white collar crime, call the White Collar Attorney team at Kestenbaum Eisner & Gorin, LLP. With over 50 years of combined experience, our team can create a top-notch defense for you no matter how complicated the issue is. Call us today at 877-781-1570.

The county of Los Angeles is home to tens of millions of people, many of whom are rarely face serious legal problems. However, there are quite a few sex crime accusations that going on every year, making life difficult for the people involved in the alleged incident. These crimes can make life difficult for the alleged victim, the alleged criminal and even the investigators who have to talk to these people. A recent case in Palmdale is quite complicated, and involves both an 81 year old man and a girl under the age of 14. The man will absolutely need a skilled Los Angeles Sex Crime Attorney in order to get the defense he needs to stay free from jail.

Keith Holmes, an 81 year old man who is a registered sex offender was arrested this past weekend for allegedly attempting to kidnap a young girl according to sheriffs. According to officials from the sheriff's office, the girl was walking ahead of her parents when the man pulled up alongside her and asked if she wanted a ride. The man continued to drive along the girl slowly even though she refused a ride. The girl's mother then came up and tried to talk to the man, and that is when Keith Holmes allegedly drove off. He stopped at a nearby red light and the girls mother took down the license plate information and a description of the man. Police later pulled the man over and the mother identified him as the suspect. After an investigation, one that will undoubtedly have to be examined by a Los Angeles Sex Crime Attorney, police found items in the car consistent with a kidnapping. He was arrested and booked for "attempted kidnapping of a child under 14." Holmes might be a marked man because he is a registered sex offender, has been arrested by Palmdale sheriff's station deputies and convicted of annoying or molesting a child twice since December 2009.

A sex crime conviction in California can lead to terrible circumstances, a lost life and more. Our Los Angeles Sex Crime Attorneys possess the knowledge, skill and experience to provide the kind of defense you need to stay free from prison and off the sex offender registry. The laws are serious, but our lawyers are ranked top-notch. Call us today at 877-781-1570.

Violent crimes are always a tragedy and shocking. Whether your family is involved in a violent crime as victims or the accused, it can be the worst nightmare you can imagine. A situation in Venice Beach created the worst possible run up to a high school graduation. A bloody shooting involving two young men shocked Venice Beach residents and ruined the graduation of Venice Senior High School. Three teens were hit around 4:10 PM and two of them died, both of them seniors at Venice Senior High School. The third victim will reportedly recover. The event took place near the campus where the three were going to attend a girls' softball game to celebrate their graduation. According to the police, the shooting victims were spending time at the field when a yet unidentified assailant walked up and fired around nine shots from a 9MM handgun. Girls playing at the softball game hit the ground when they heard the gunshots. A female coach at the game gave the first teen to die CPR for up to fifteen minutes and wrapped her jacket around the non-fatal victim's leg. Police are treating the shooting as "gang related."

Venice Beach Senior High School is one of the most iconic high schools in America, as it was the set of the hit film "Grease" and the classroom setting for "Baby One More Time" by Britney Spears'. It was also the backdrop for "American History X" according to the L.A. Daily News. Los Angeles Violent Crime Lawyers who have to work violent crime cases involving gangs, young people, schools and endangered bystanders need to have skill, knowledge and a successful track record in such cases. At Kestenbaum Eisner & Gorin, LLP, our lawyers know how to handle complex cases and how to create the best defense possible for people facing felonies, years in prison and other serious penalties.

There are major crimes going on every day in Southern California, and for those who stand accused, hiring a Van Nuys criminal lawyer is absolutely necessary for any theft crime accusation. In Van Nuys, one of the more populated parts of the San Fernando Valley, getting arrested for a theft crime could mean serious prison time, huge fines, and possibly even restitution for any stolen items. A recent, dangerous case in Van Nuys highlights just how complicated any criminal case can be. Three men who were armed with semi-automatic handguns broke into a Van Nuys home and tied up three women living there. They allegedly ransacked the residence, stole roughly $10,000 in cash and jewelry and all this before police arrived. The residence was located on Archwood Street and took place around 3:30 AM. The women were tied up with duct tape while the suspects searched the home, one of the women was taken to the hospital for treatment of a head wound. Two of the women were senior citizens and were tied up with one of the women's daughters, all three were Russian. Eventually, the daughter was able to escape and call the police, but obviously the situation was a nightmare.

There are countless nightmares in this situation, even for the accused. People who are accused have all sorts of complications in keeping their freedoms. In a public case such as this, it could be dangerous for someone falsely accused. The men were supposedly between the ages of 25 and 30, meaning that any Russian men in their 20's with an arrest record in their past could be facing arrest, accusation and even charges.

If you or someone you know is in need of a Theft Crime Defense Atorney in Van Nuys, Sherman Oaks or anywhere else in the San Fernando Valley, contact Kestenbaum Eisner & Gorin, who can provide some of the best defense possible for you.

Los Angeles Sex Crime Attorneys who represent teachers are often representing someone who has been publicly denigrated for their alleged crimes, even if there is no proof that they have committed a crime. With any type of crime, people often forget that a person is innocent until proven guilty, but with sex crimes involving teachers, the mere suggestion of any sort of crime can turn into a horrible situation before a trial even begins. In Palmdale, a middle school teacher's aide pleaded not guilty to four felony counts of committing lewd acts on a child. The woman stands accused of having a sexual relationship with a 13 year old male student she was tutoring. The woman is 35 years old and is accused of committing the crimes over a two week period in May and June of this year. She is married and was arrested and jailed in lieu of $400,000 bail. She is due back in court on June 28 to see if there is enough evidence for her to stand trial. Now, the courts do not know if they have enough evidence yet, but the newspapers have been printing the woman's picture and essentially condemning the woman for a crime she may not have committed. The 13 year old boy who is accusing the woman said she had sexual intercourse with him at the middle school and told authorities at the sheriff's Special Victims Bureau. A relative of the boy discovered an allegedly inappropriate text message from the woman on the boy's phone. She had been tutoring the boy on campus and the sex took place in a vacant classroom and in her car. Allegedly, the woman said she had developed feelings for the boy.

If you ask any Attorney they will tell you that a case like this requires a skilled, knowledgeable lawyer who knows the laws, the courts and how best to defend this kind of case. Sometimes, young boys and girls make false accusations based on immaturity, but police and parents will always investigate such cases thoroughly. In this instance, the woman is facing serious jail time, a long time on the California Sex Offender List and more. She will need a skilled Sex Crime Lawyer to have any hope of staying out of prison.

If you or someone you know needs a lawyer to defend against a sex crime, contact Kestenbaum Eisner & Gorin. We can provide the kind of criminal defense you need to stay out of jail.

Eisner Gorin LLP has been recognized as one of the best U.S. law firms, based on the experience, professionalism, and ethics of its criminal defense lawyers and attorneys. We aggressively defend clients in all Southern California courtrooms on state and federal charges, including DUI, DMV, misdemeanor, felony, juvenile cases, in the following communities and courthouses.